((Fictional story...names and situations have been changed to protect the guilty.))

An average Woman would’ve just divorced her Husband after she caught him cheating. But not Sholanda. She has to go the extra mile. Because she comes from a long line of dark and mysterious Women that settled their disputes the ol’ fashion way. They rooted you.

To make matters worse, her Husband didn’t even know she knew he was cheating. She just happened to figured it all out one day while she was out getting her hair done. As she sat under the hair dryer, she played back her relationship in slow motion. Within a month she saw her Husband go from “Joe the Plumber” to a Steve Harvey Pimp Suit wearing Playa of the year. “What’s that all about?” She thought to herself. It was then that her Nana AnnieMae Bishop showed up in her mind saying “babe, don’t you know this Man cheating of you?” She couldn’t just go on AnnieMae’s word, so later on she knew all she had to do was ask her Husband one quick question and his face- not his words- but his face would reveal the answer.

“You f—ing some other broad?” She said, as matteroffactly as possible, as directly as possible- right when he strolled in the house smelling like Christmas cologne and beer. “Woman you crazy” he said trying to make his way upstairs to change out of his "Super pimp” uniform. Sholanda knew “woman you crazy” wasn’t an answer to her question. It was an attempt to turn the moment into a comedy, something he’d often do to prevent an argument. But his face said it all. When her Husband was trying to think up a lie about something he’d look down at his watch, even when he wasn’t wearing one. In this case he was, but he made it upstairs fast enough to a safe place where he could think up his rebuttals.

He gave a good list of explanations. But Sholanda knew better. AnnieMae never shows up to tell any lies. Her Husband obviously forgot Sholanda’s middle name. Sholanda “You don’t know who you messing with” Wallace. Was Sholanda out to kill her Husband? No. She just wanted to teach him a lesson and then in time she planned on doing the same to him. She imagined him coming home while she was in bed with his best Friend and his Boss from work. But even that was too amateurish for Sholanda.

The Women of Sholanda’s family followed their own one true religion. They knew something that the Bible doesn’t teach. The truth about the dead. Nana AnnieMae taught everyone how to get money when they needed it, how to win over people when they needed too, and how to get their vengeance on those that opposed them. She would say “when you don’t know, ask, go to that library and find out what you need to know! That library is your Chuch’ and your salvation!” The library AnneMae was talking about wasn’t that quite place with all the books, but that quite place with all the bodies. The cemetery.

AnnieMae passed on the belief to her Daughters that Black folk or any folk for that matter that don’t honor the dead have no control over what happens to them in life. She taught everyone how to speak effectively with the dead, and most importantly- how the dead speak back.

When AnnieMae was 35 years old she was one of the wealthiest Women in their Georgia town. A Black Woman, and White folks couldn’t understand how she did it. No one knew why AnnieMae had so much control and power of those White folks, even when there were lynching and killings going on.
She told her secrets only to the Females in the family. She was one of those people that would keep track of all those that died in the Town, especially rich White folks. She said – never be afraid to visit the grave of a wealthy White Woman or Man, and you take that dirt from up off that grave and you sprinkle that dirt around your own house. You keep visiting that Grave even more so than that person’s own family. Spirits are always watching, they never stop watching. They never stop taking either.

Sholanda went to the “library” and confirmed that her Husband was indeed cheating with some Go-Go Dancer he met one day after work. He helped her get her car fixed, and she was the one dressing him up in all these flashy clothes. She loved playing dress up. The spirit Sholanda went too to find this out was a nosey old Lady that used to live right next door to them that passed away 2 months back. She was always watching her Husband in life so she figured even “after-life” she’d still be keeping a good eye on him.

So Sholanda decided to find the prefect spirit that would possess the body of her Husband new fling. She decided it would be this female she heard of that was stabbed by her Husband. AnnieMae taught everyone the correct way to conjurer up a spirit. Sometimes it would take days and even weeks for a spirit to show up. Once she did show up, Sholanda gave the spirit her instructions.

Every night for about 3 weeks, Sholanda’s Husband was coming home like normal. Still dressed up in his pimp suits, still smiling, laughing and happy. Sholanda figured, what ever she did- wasn’t working. She decided to wait another week at least. Then the night came when her Husband didn’t come home at all.

The next day she called his job, no one had seen him. She called his Mother’s house- no one seen him there either. About 2 days later the Police showed up at her home, to give her the terrible news. Her Husband was dead. Stabbed to dead after his new lover went into a jealous rage.

They took Sholanda downtown to view the body. She really didn’t think this would end in the death of her Husband. It shocked her. They uncovered his body and his face made her break down in tears. In her mind she knew it was her fault. The spirit she had conjured was seeking revenge on her own Husband and wanted to get back at someone for what happened to her. She remembered AnnieMae’s word “we give them spirits power to do what they can’t do alone.”

Sholanda demanded to see her Husband’s killer so about 2 of the Officers escorted her to the holding cell where they kept inmates waiting for a trial. When Sholanda looked beyond the bars of the cell, her knees grew weak- she had no other choice but to fall on the floor screaming.

Her Husband’s lover was a Transvestite.

Public Spiritual Announcement:The most dangerous spiritual crafts, are the ones we fail to master.
If you can't understand it, if you can't practice it then you will never master it- so you shouldn't be playing with it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

When I first heard this story- realizing that it was probably very true, I was attracted to the statement: "“we give them spirits power to do what they can’t do alone.” That one statement put everything into perspective for me, religions, spiritual traditions and even secret societies. Because when you get right down to it, that's all these societies are about anyway, the conjuring of spirits and the keeping of knowledge of wealth that those spirits possess. That is especially true for the skull and bones.

But what most people will find disturbing, is the fact that someone can not only conjure up a spirit but instruct that spirit to possess someone and cause them to do something crazy. Haven't we heard the term- "the devil made me do it"? People having blackouts, only to wake up and find their loved ones dead?

I couldn't begin to imagine the curriculum our "AnnieMaes" teach their Daughters. But it seems to be true "the honoring of the dead" or a "respect" for the spirit world is the key to mastering reality to it's full potential. And some might way, well- I don't believe in Ancestral worship, or I don't believe in honoring the dead. Humm. But if you have a religion of any kind what you are doing? And of course this is why most religions like Christianity put such a heavy emphasis on "living" ie- "my God is a ~living~ God!!" Translation- we don't worship or honor the dead.

Really?

Who is printed on money? Dead presidents. Who are the most respected in academia? Dead writers,Dead scholars, dead professors, dead philosophers.
The most popular artists are? Dead. The most popular musicians/singers/rappers are? Dead. Even the most famous fashion designers are dead. And we already know the most honored Black thinkers are dead.

Dead just means they don't walk around in their original form. But they still exist. The truth perhaps, as those like AnnieMae teach, is that the Dead are never really dead. Science would confirm that statement that energy can't die, but it can be rearranged.

That idea might be scary for people. It might be scary for those involved in wars for example to know that those millions of people that die in cold blood, roam the earth- seeking revenge by manipulating the living. It's possible those in power already understand that.

When I first heard this story- realizing that it was probably very true, I was attracted to the statement: "“we give them spirits power to do what they can’t do alone.” That one statement put everything into perspective for me, religions, spiritual traditions and even secret societies. Because when you get right down to it, that's all these societies are about anyway, the conjuring of spirits and the keeping of knowledge of wealth that those spirits possess. That is especially true for the skull and bones.

But what most people will find disturbing, is the fact that someone can not only conjure up a spirit but instruct that spirit to possess someone and cause them to do something crazy. Haven't we heard the term- "the devil made me do it"? People having blackouts, only to wake up and find their loved ones dead?

I couldn't begin to imagine the curriculum our "AnnieMaes" teach their Daughters. But it seems to be true "the honoring of the dead" or a "respect" for the spirit world is the key to mastering reality to it's full potential. And some might way, well- I don't believe in Ancestral worship, or I don't believe in honoring the dead. Humm. But if you have a religion of any kind what you are doing? And of course this is why most religions like Christianity put such a heavy emphasis on "living" ie- "my God is a ~living~ God!!" Translation- we don't worship or honor the dead.

Really?

Who is printed on money? Dead presidents. Who are the most respected in academia? Dead writers,Dead scholars, dead professors, dead philosophers.
The most popular artists are? Dead. The most popular musicians/singers/rappers are? Dead. Even the most famous fashion designers are dead. And we already know the most honored Black thinkers are dead.

Dead just means they don't walk around in their original form. But they still exist. The truth perhaps, as those like AnnieMae teach, is that the Dead are never really dead. Science would confirm that statement that energy can't die, but it can be rearranged.

That idea might be scary for people. It might be scary for those involved in wars for example to know that those millions of people that die in cold blood, roam the earth- seeking revenge by manipulating the living. It's possible those in power already understand that.

Click to expand...

Hmmm, did anyone say Palo? I need to clean my ears. It must be the wax.

I've been hearing things too Bro. BlackBird. Hopefully our paleros could speak more on this topic. I already know they are here, but many feel unwelcome to share their knowledge on subjects like this one.

I'm not certain of the particular system Sholanda's story sprang out of. I do know her true story comes from a family of Geechies in Georgia that trace their ancestry back to Haiti. It could be a little of this and a little of that mixed in there.

Is it wrong to settling life issues with Voodoo?
That depends on who you ask right?

Tatas (paleros) don't typically divulge much information to what is known as Aleyos ( the unitiated or non-priest) by Lukumi and Ifa practioners.

I would say most traditional priest, healers, shaman will tell you any force in nature can be appeased, for enriching or negating purposes.

When manipulating these forces (in this story, probably Mfumbe among others) to induce a manufactured outcome, the question becomes, is the petitioner and priest in alignment with what they agreed to do before incarnating on the physical plane.

I have a Nigerian friend I joke with all the time, insisting to him that I might decide to move to Nigeria. While he brags about Nigeria's economy- he constantly warns me about going. "If the Women want you- they will seek to get you!" He said. Naturally he says that because of his terrible experience. He broke a Nigerian Woman's heart so she decided to bury some of his items along with a loc of his hair in a cemetery. Don't get him started on that story, he'd scream about it until his eyes turn bloodshot red. And it happened about 7-8 years ago. He said it turned his life upside down, "I felt like a deadman walking." He said.

What eventually rid him of the spell, was a series of very expensive interventions of behalf of some very power African psychics that instructed him on what he had to do to clean himself off. He never told me what it was he had to do. I assumed it had to something horrible why he never mentioned it.

Bro. Sekhemu- great information and questions.
Even though I was raised up the the Shango Spiritual Baptist tradition, I didn't pay much attention to it. I was usually upset whenever someone was possessed by a spirit, no matter what area of the room they were in they would always some how make their way over to me, and fall on me. Even at five years old it's still embarrassing.

But to say I didn't pay attention to it means I wasn't conscious of how what was going on around me was being absorbed. I know a part of me is always angry that history calls my Ancestors Christians, just as the European religious census calls much of the Afro-Caribbean Christians, along with South America on up through the south. My mother tried to beat the Shango out of my because I was trying to set the house on fire.

Now to be uninitiated in anything of this magnitude is an unsettling thought.
Just for the mere fact that you are dealing with Spirits that require a certain level of attention. Certain rituals. Certain meals. Certain comforts. And I imagine we have so many broken contracts as African people, that perhaps even our Spirits that we no longer honor, have in a hand or had a hand in our enslavement.

Christianity is supposed to cure us of our African beliefs. Purge us of the sins of magick, conjuring, summoning and feeding the dead. Some will say, we are better off without those traditions. Even in Africa many converts are saying it. And I've asked Native Africans this question. "Has converting to Christianity allowed you a better system to control Europeans and Africa, or has it allowed Europeans a better system of controlling Africans?"

If Women and Men like Sholanda mastered their craft better, I don't see how any type of oppression or imperialism could be possible. I believe it does come down to the honoring of the dead, and respecting the "library." For the same reason it is about honoring our Elders, because they also have vast libraries of knowledge. At least the Asians have figured out that much.

I have a Nigerian friend I joke with all the time, insisting to him that I might decide to move to Nigeria. While he brags about Nigeria's economy- he constantly warns me about going. "If the Women want you- they will seek to get you!" He said. Naturally he says that because of his terrible experience. He broke a Nigerian Woman's heart so she decided to bury some of his items along with a loc of his hair in a cemetery. Don't get him started on that story, he'd scream about it until his eyes turn bloodshot red. And it happened about 7-8 years ago. He said it turned his life upside down, "I felt like a deadman walking." He said.

What eventually rid him of the spell, was a series of very expensive interventions of behalf of some very power African psychics that instructed him on what he had to do to clean himself off. He never told me what it was he had to do. I assumed it had to something horrible why he never mentioned it.

Bro. Sekhemu- great information and questions.
Even though I was raised up the the Shango Spiritual Baptist tradition, I didn't pay much attention to it. I was usually upset whenever someone was possessed by a spirit, no matter what area of the room they were in they would always some how make their way over to me, and fall on me. Even at five years old it's still embarrassing.

But to say I didn't pay attention to it means I wasn't conscious of how what was going on around me was being absorbed. I know a part of me is always angry that history calls my Ancestors Christians, just as the European religious census calls much of the Afro-Caribbean Christians, along with South America on up through the south. My mother tried to beat the Shango out of my because I was trying to set the house on fire.

Now to be uninitiated in anything of this magnitude is an unsettling thought.
Just for the mere fact that you are dealing with Spirits that require a certain level of attention. Certain rituals. Certain meals. Certain comforts. And I imagine we have so many broken contracts as African people, that perhaps even our Spirits that we no longer honor, have in a hand or had a hand in our enslavement.

Christianity is supposed to cure us of our African beliefs. Purge us of the sins of magick, conjuring, summoning and feeding the dead. Some will say, we are better off without those traditions. Even in Africa many converts are saying it. And I've asked Native Africans this question. "Has converting to Christianity allowed you a better system to control Europeans and Africa, or has it allowed Europeans a better system of controlling Africans?"

If Women and Men like Sholanda mastered their craft better, I don't see how any type of oppression or imperialism could be possible. I believe it does come down to the honoring of the dead, and respecting the "library." For the same reason it is about honoring our Elders, because they also have vast libraries of knowledge. At least the Asians have figured out that much.

Click to expand...

Metasaience you did it this time. Let me tell you. I think there is nothing more powerful than a black woman. I have always felt this before knowing the more spiritual/esoteric aspects of this power. I come from a family of powerful women. I mean it's like men just get absorbed in and conform to what the agenda of our women's liking. But, I used to hear my grandma say, there's nothing worse than a silly woman. I never really knew what she meant by that. I was thinking silly as in 'funny.' But now, I think silly meant 'dangerous.'

Now, here's a question for anyone: Now considering this what Meta said

But to say I didn't pay attention to it means I wasn't conscious of how what was going on around me was being absorbed. I know a part of me is always angry that history calls my Ancestors Christians, just as the European religious census calls much of the Afro-Caribbean Christians, along with South America on up through the south. My mother tried to beat the Shango out of my because I was trying to set the house on fire.

Click to expand...

Many families shunned our traditional practices and even forbade each other from practicing because of fear of being 'caught' and then maybe beaten or killed. maybe worse. Therefore, much was lost. How do we get the knowledge back since some of us fall in the category with the people who were afraid to teach it to their children?
And how do we 'search' for it without disrupting something or someone and risk hurting ourselves?

Metasaience you did it this time. Let me tell you. I think there is nothing more powerful than a black woman. I have always felt this before knowing the more spiritual/esoteric aspects of this power. I come from a family of powerful women. I mean it's like men just get absorbed in and conform to what the agenda of our women's liking. But, I used to hear my grandma say, there's nothing worse than a silly woman. I never really knew what she meant by that. I was thinking silly as in 'funny.' But now, I think silly meant 'dangerous.'

Now, here's a question for anyone: Now considering this what Meta said

Many families shunned our traditional practices and even forbade each other from practicing because of fear of being 'caught' and then maybe beaten or killed. maybe worse. Therefore, much was lost. How do we get the knowledge back since some of us fall in the category with the people who were afraid to teach it to their children?
And how do we 'search' for it without disrupting something or someone and risk hurting ourselves?

Click to expand...

The knowledge of our traditions never got lost. It went underground, but now it is resurfacing.

The first step to initiation into any spiritual system, is to get a Roots Reading, which tells you your ethnic background and the system you are suppose to initiate into.